


Goodbye

by WhisperingShadowLullabies



Category: Deadpool - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M, Peter gets to still be a spider so, They have different animal souls?, Vampire au?, but not really?, this sounds really weird but its really good I promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-06
Updated: 2016-06-06
Packaged: 2018-07-12 15:16:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7110943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhisperingShadowLullabies/pseuds/WhisperingShadowLullabies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peter thought the term vampire was slightly offensive; this being because that was a very loose term for what they were, what he was. Yes, they drank blood as a sustenance for nutrients that they needed, but they could eat normal people food. They could go out in the sunlight and Peter thought sleeping in a coffin would be very uncomfortable. And they were less just a lump sum of blood-sucking losers, they were all different. Species and sub-species, their souls all representing different animals. Weird, yes, but that’s just how it was.<br/>Or where Peter the spidey-vamp meets Wade the human on the subway and Gwen makes the relationship happen because they are both idiots</p>
            </blockquote>





	Goodbye

**Author's Note:**

> Okay I don't leave notes because no one really has the time to read them, but I am going to put one on this story because I'll be damned if i didn't have way too much fun writing this. I would like to say I was almost going to split this up into chapters and make y'all suffer each week and then I was like "hey Ive been there. it sucks ass" so I didn't. so instead of nice 1000-3000 word chapters you get 15,000 all at once. you better fucking love this shit as much as I do because its original and great.

Peter thought the term _vampire_ was slightly offensive; this being because that was a very loose term for what they were, what he was. Yes, they drank blood as a sustenance for nutrients that they needed, but they could eat normal people food. They could go out in the sunlight and Peter thought sleeping in a coffin would be very uncomfortable. And they were less just a lump sum of blood-sucking losers, they were all different. Species and sub-species, their souls all representing different animals. Weird, yes, but that’s just how it was. You could always tell when another was around, but they had to flash their eyes before you could what animal they were. Cat or dog to frog or fox. Or in Peter’s case; Spider. However, you couldn’t tell the exact type of animal unless you were mated. It was like your lips are sealed until you meet that special someone. This being said each animal had a different set of skills. Peter was one of the unlucky few who’s “skills” got in the way. Sticky fingers and an extra set of fangs that were extremely poisonous. Spiders were rare to find because of a mass genocide of all of the kind due to their dangerous being. Peter managed to hide well enough being a nocturnal that walked among the diurnal creatures. Plus, living with a fox had its perks; Gwen could outsmart anyone that dared to defy her. This all being to say that yes, humans still widely outnumbered them and no, normal animals did not stop existing either.

Backstory aside, Peter was dead on his feet. No, not dead literally because that’s not a thing. Drink blood, check. Being dead, that’s just in the movies. No, Peter was just standing on a New York subway barely holding on to the hand strap while being sandwiched between someone who smelled positively awful and someone who smelled like actual heaven. Though that could just be because Peter was to the point in “levels of hungry” that meant he was max. ten minutes from passing out from lack of food. This time literally. He would call blame on the Bugle of he wasn’t so busy trying not to collapse on the subway. Smell-good guy was quite muscular judging by the amount of times that Peter has fallen into him by accident and by quick glance was probably not a guy you wanna mess with due to the mask and large swords strapped to his back. Unfortunately, Peter needed a phone and he _really_ didn’t want to ask not-smell-good guy. Trying to blink the scary death-ness out of his eyes, he fully turned to the man and did his best “I promise I’m not trying to eat you” face. Despite the mask, Peter could somehow tell an eyebrow had been raised.

“Hello. Um, would you mind if I borrowed a phone? Preferably yours if you own one.” Peter could tell the man had narrowed his eyes and tried his best to keep up the positive attitude. “I need to call a friend, as I am t-minus seven minutes in counting until I pass out.” Peter stumbled a bit on that last bit and shut his eyes trying to regain balance on the shaking carriage. When he opened them the man was holding out an old flip phone and Peter gave thanks to whatever god listened to his prayer. He gingerly took the phone and plugged in Gwen’s number. It rang a few times before she picked up,

“Hello? Who is this?” Gwen voiced concern over the line.

“Hey Gwen… so um, I’m about five minutes out and very likely to pass out so if you could get the IV ready and I dunno, watch for me? I think I’m going to try and sweet talk this lovely man who let me borrow his phone into making sure I get back to the house okay because I am like 85% sure I am not going to make it through the door.” Peter cringed as Gwen heavily sighed on the other side of the line.

“God dammit Peter one of these days…” and promptly hung up. Peter gave a soft smile and turned to hand the phone back to the masked man that was staring at Peter with a weird sort of questioning vibe.

“Thanks.” He handed the phone back and was trying to think of a good way to ask about getting him to follow when he spoke,

“I’ll do it sweet-cheeks. You look like someone ran over you with a more than just a truck.” Peter stared blankly at the man, confused as to what he was referring to until he realized it was the answer to the question he hadn’t asked yet. His voice was deep, but it had that sort of hidden mirth. Peter blinked before giving a small smile and replying softly.

“Thank you. My apartment is the next stop. My roommate should be out there ready to strap me in.” The man’s nose seemed to scrunch at Peters particular choice of words, but Peter didn’t get it. He was being literal so why did the man look so off put? _Oh._ Peter thought. _That was probably a weird thing to say…_ well it was too late to take it back now. Peter just scratched his neck awkwardly and tried to focus his rapidly depleting vision. The man reached out and caught Peter just as his legs gave out. Peter mumbled a thanks before the subway dinged for the stop. They got off, the man half carrying him, and made their way to the cluster of buildings that held Peter and Gwen’s shared venue. Peter glanced around and saw a blond blur a few stories up and pointed up. “There’s my roommate. Be a doll and help me up there?” The man huffed in laughter, but said nothing more, pulling Peter towards the elevators.

Once they reached the top Gwen was already reaching frantically for Peter, motioning for the man to come in as well. Gwen threw Peter on the couch where he promptly passed out just seven minutes after calling her. Gwen rolled her eyes and carefully rolled the IV over and hooked it up to Peter’s arm. The blood flowed from the bag into Peter’s arm and Gwen stepped back to take a look at the man that had brought Peter home. His shoulders were broad and Gwen could tell there was a lot more weapons hiding then just the swords on his back. He had a hoody on, the hood up slightly covering the mask that was underneath. baggy pants and combat boots made his form seem larger, but he was also just large. Six foot two if Gwen had to guess. She smiled and walked over holding out a hand.

“Gwen Stacy, pleasure. And who might you be?” The man took her hand in a strong handshake.

“Wade Wilson. Renounced mercenary if I do say so myself. Who’s the cutie I brought home for a blood transfer?” Gwen smiled and looked over at the mess on their couch.

“Peter Parker the nerd. Don’t worry about him he’ll be fine, just needs a couple minutes. Such an idiot…” Gwen rolled her eyes and led Wade into the kitchen to the bar stools at the island. He took a seat, keeping his eyes on Peter as Gwen walked around and opened the fridge. “Want anything to drink? We’ve got apple juice.” Wade shook his head and Gwen grabbed one for herself. “Suit yourself. He really will be fine, by the way.” Wade turned to look at the girl whose lips smiled around the straw of the juice box. Her form appeared smaller in the baggy clothes that she wore, her blond hair pulled back into a messy ponytail. He leaned back in the chair and stared questionably at her.

“Why are you not fazed by having a random mercenary in your home? I know I’m ruggedly handsome, but you’ve gotta be crazier than me to not raise more than just an eyebrow at this clusterfuck.” Gwen laughed and looked back at Peter.

“Surprisingly, we’ve had worse in this apartment. But, you’re also not random, Deadpool.” Wade looked slightly raddled at the call of his mercenary name, but before he could ask, Gwen spoke again. “Renounced, remember? Peter might live under a science nerd rock, but I don’t. I don’t trust you completely, not that I trust anyone completely, but I will give you points for bringing that idiot home.” Wade eyed her warily until they both jumped at the voice from the living room,

“You talking shit about me again Gwen? It’s rude to make fun of the disabled.” Peter walked into the kitchen looking completely different then when Wade saw him on the train. His hair was disheveled and he had a small smirk on his face making his eyes, which had appeared a rusty brown on the train, shine with a golden honey tint. He had been sickly pale, but now glowed a healthy tone and looked like a normal twenty-year-old. Wade blinked as Peter casually sat in the seat next to him and pointed at the juice box in Gwen’s hand. She rolled her eyes and grabbed one for him.

“You’re not disabled and that’s rude to disabled people. You’re just stupid. Remind me to set an alarm to make sure you eat.” Peter stuck his tongue out at her and turned to Wade.

“Sorry for not introducing myself earlier. Peter Parker, Bugle photographer and broke college student. You?” Wade blinked.

“I thought you were a nerd.” Peter Laughed and shook his head.

“Well, yes, I am also a nerd. A nerd for bio-chemical engineering that is. But don’t listen to anything Gwen says about me 50% of it is lies.” Gwen laughed and threw her empty juice box away.

“You two kids have fun getting acquainted, I’m going to bed. Peter you’ve got a nine o’clock meeting with Osborn tomorrow so try to eat something for the day before you head out. Let’s not have a repeat of today.” Peter rolled his eyes and turned back to Wade. His gaze was cold and calculating, but it was filled with underlining curiosity.

“Name’s Wade Wilson or Deadpool the Mercenary. Merc with a mouth people have been known to say. Can’t tell if that’s an insult or not, but I really couldn’t care less.” Peter’s face twisted, but quickly returned to its normal playful manner.

“No wonder he smells like that…” Peter mumbled, mostly to himself, but Wade caught it and his head tilted in question.

“Like what?” Peter startled and looked down, his cheeks flushed.  Wade grinned at him.

“It’s nothing…” Peter looked off, still clearly embarrassed. an awkward silence fell between the two, the juice box forgotten as they both struggled to find something to bring up. Wade had so many questions like how this kid that had passed out none twenty minutes earlier was completely fine now and why he needed a blood transfer for it. Peter looked uncomfortable and had lost his confidence that he had come into the room with. Wade cleared his throat.

“So you wanna tell me why you passed out on the train? Not the best strategy to be picking up people, not that I encourage picking up people on a dirty subway car.” Peter jumped in surprise and rubbed his neck glancing off, not looking at Wade, who waited and crossed his arms over his broad chest. Peter huffed and met the whites of the mask, his expression turning rather cold again.

“I have a condition in which my body doesn’t produce the right amounts of anything. I didn’t eat, which lowered a ton of junk which in turn, lowered the production of blood cells in my body causing me to pass out. Add the right amount of blood back into my system and I’m fine.” Wade stared at Peter. The story was believable enough, but there was something off about it. Maybe it was the way Peter said it. Like it was some sort of lie that he was trying to get himself to believe as well. Wade didn’t say anything and Peter looked away again. Wade took that as a chance to look around for the first time since he had arrived at the small apartment.

The living room was just large enough to fit the two seated couch and the TV sat upon a broken stand, one side held up by a bunch of science textbooks. The kitchen was larger, the island holding the three bar stools and leaving enough room on the other side for one person to move comfortably around all the major appliances. Wade could see two doors, presumably bedrooms, one bathroom that looked ridiculously small. Not much of an apartment, but pretty nice for what Wade assumed was two broke college students. Wade looked back when Peter spoke up, though his voice was so soft Wade had to strain his ears to hear.

“Um, maybe this is a bad question to ask or maybe I’m just really stupid about this kind of stuff, but why are you wearing a mask?” Wade stared at the young man who managed to surprise him more and more. His eyes held so many emotions all the time it was like Wade could see the shift from bright and cheerful to dark and self-loathing to scared and embarrassed. Wade wanted to be mad at him for asking that question that they always ask, but the way that Peter had asked, worried and curious at the same time, he couldn’t.

“touchy subject its better if you leave that for another day.” Peter lit up at that and Wade raised an eyebrow at him.

“Wait, does this mean we can be friends? No one wants to be friends with me though, is this some sort of trap? Are you here from the Hunters?” Peter shifted again from excited to deadly and Wade almost leaned away from him. His eyes narrowed and a frown matched the hard glare he was getting. Wade waved his arms in surrender and Peter seemed to relax slightly, his eyes still holding a suspicious danger.

“I don’t know what a Hunter is, but I ain’t one. I don’t think we can go straight to the friend-zone, but I mean, we could probably hang out later as a restart. I was gunna speak up to you on the train, but you looked like you were ready to puke and I didn’t think that was the best time to try and ask someone if they wanted to get a drink later.” Peter buzzed with a sudden energy that he certainly hadn’t had earlier.

“Sure! I mean, yeah we should totally hang out later. But also maybe not, because I’m weird and sometimes not the best company, but I would really like that… wow I sound so stupid right now… let me start that over… Yes, I think that would be a grand idea.” Peter rambled and ended up so flustered that he jumped off his chair and spun around a few times. Wade huffed a little at him and Peter frowned at him. “It’s not funny to laugh at the disabled.” He said it with more conviction than he probably should have and Wade laughed a little more.

“Not disabled.” He reminded him before standing up and walking towards the door. “It’s getting pretty late and I do need to get home so I think I’m going to leave now. I’ll just call your lady friend to get to you I guess.” Wade gestured towards the back rooms as Peter ran to catch up. He glanced around and flailed a little before grabbing at Wade’s arm.

“This is a really shady area… If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to walk you to wherever you’re going…” Peter stumbled over his words, but looked at Wade with a weird mix of fear and conviction. Wade shrugged and walked out, his pleasing sent leaving Peter trailing like a lost dog. (But he was a spider, not a dog, obviously.)

They walked through the crumbling state of the building and by the time they got out and onto the wet streets of the back alleyways, it was mostly dark outside. Wade felt Peter shift beside him, seemingly becoming more comfortable as the darkness spread. He was still alert, which made Wade coil and ready to spring at anything that crossed their path. They made it to Wade’s apartment easily, which surprisingly wasn’t that far from Peter and Gwen’s. Wade waved and muttered a thanks before closing the door to his place. He didn’t relax though. He felt like something had been trailing them and looked out the window as Peter walked away. No more than five steps later a group of mangy guys lined around Peter. Wade couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it was no doubt a threat. One of them pulled out something that glinted in the moonlight and Wade was ready to run out and slice and dice those guys, but then the look on their faces changed and he paused. What once was dripping with malice was now filled with fear and they scrambled as Peter said something and pointed at one before pointing back at Wade’s apartment. They nodded frantically before running off, Peter putting his hands back in his pockets and continuing back to his place as if nothing had happened. Wade closed the curtain in confusion and spent the rest of the night lying awake and relaying the events back to try and figure out this mysterious Peter Parker character.

-

As soon as Peter had turned around he knew he was cornered. “Damn rats.” He muttered under his breath as the group of nocturnes faced him. One of them, with a pitifully awful over bite, snarled and spoke in a raspy voice.

“That human is ours! We’ve had our sights on him for ages!” Peter couldn’t stop the hiss that passed his lips making the one pulling the knife out stop. Peter stood his ground and made his eyes glint, showing his animalistic. The color drained from their faces as Peter smiled, lightly showing off his extra fangs, before he let out a low hiss and pointed at the ringleader.

“You stay away from that human. He’s _mine._ ” He pointed back at Wade’s apartment and glared daggers at the rats. “You rats are good for spreading the word. Tell anyone that thinks about taking this human to come to me, because I will fight for this one. _Now, Go._ ” The rats ran for it and Peter put his hands back in his pockets, walking back towards his home. Confusion clouded his features. What had made him act like that? He had never felt something so strongly before, but when they had claimed that Wade was theirs, Peter saw red. He had never wanted to harm another creature before, but at the thought of Wade getting hurt because of them he had lost his cool. He had only just met the man; they didn’t even know anything about each other. So why did Peter feel such the need to insure his safety, to claim that he was his?

Lost in thought, Peter almost ran into Gwen as he returned. She didn’t seem startled by his presence, but left for the kitchen and returned with a glass filled with a familiar red liquid. She smiled and handed it to him. “Sorry its B-negative; it’s all we have right now. Come on you need to drink.” Peter nodded and sipped the drink lightly. His face scrunched up at the taste, B-negative was his least favorite, but drank it anyways. It did make him feel slightly better, but his mind was still troubled. Gingerly he broached the topic he and Gwen always argued about.

“Gwen, what was that thing you were talking about the other day about inter-species relationships?” Gwen’s fox spirit lit up and started to babble on and on about her different theories on it. Peter only half listened, only interested on one thing; after all Peter was still a believer in same species relationships because that was the only way that you could be truly mated. Sure people could love who they wanted, but Peter didn’t like the idea of the relationship not working out; it scared him. Truly mated couples would always work out because it was kind of like finding a soul mate. That idea made Peter feel safe, which he almost never felt. But, what if truly mated couples did go beyond just species like Gwen always talked about. What if went as far as different _creatures._  Peter had never felt such a strong connection to someone as tonight when he had wanted to protect Wade. It wasn’t just an afterthought that he had. No, he had felt like he _had_ to protect Wade.  Like he had to put Wade’s safety above his own. But that didn’t make sense; he barely knew the man. His eyebrows knit together as this thought occurred to him. How exactly was someone supposed to know that they had found their true mate? Peter had always assumed that it would be butterflies in his stomach or that he wouldn’t find one at all, after all he was a curse altogether. But even if Wade was, which would be complicated enough on its own, he was human; if he so much as pricked his finger on Peter’s extra fangs he would die in less than sixty seconds. Peter knew from bad experiences and he could never do that to him. The more Peter thought about it though, the weirder it sounded and he decided that thinking about it made his head hurt and he left Gwen to her rambles to work on a few projects he needed to get done.

-

It was a few days later when Gwen got a call from Wade. He had stumbled on his words, but basically asked if he could talk to Peter. Laughing, Gwen entered Peter’s room. Sunlight streamed in through the windows and lit up Peter’s face as he snoozed comfortably. She smacked the lump on the bed, giggling as Peter groaned and sat up blinking sleep out of his eyes. She handed the phone to him and winked before skipping out of the room. Still groggy Peter mumbled, “I’m going to kill that fucking fox one day if she wakes me up one more time on my days off…” and trailed off to yawn. He was startled out of his stupor when the voice on the other side spoke.

“I would ask who the fox is, but I think I can make a good guess. And why the hell are you still asleep? It’s like 4:30 in the afternoon.” Peter groaned again and rubbed his eyes.

“It’s better if you don’t question it. I was going to get up soon… probably. Well more like at seven maybe eight if Gwen let me. But that’s all beside the point! It’s good to hear from you Wade!  Why the house call? Are you in danger?” Peter turned cold at that last thought and stifled a hiss. Wade laughed on the other end.

“No, I’m fine. Mercenary, remember? Anyways I was wondering If you wanted to go and get something to eat at this little diner I found. They don’t have tacos, which is a letdown, but they do have grilled cheese sandwiches and I’m feeling the need for a grilled cheese. So whadda say?” Peter croaked at the mass of words coming from Wade’s mouth and took a minute to process what he asked. The light-bulb went off eventually and Peter couldn’t stop the squeal that made its way out of his mouth.

“Yeah! Totally! I just need to um, get dressed, and maybe have a coffee and yeah we can go…” Peter mentally smacked himself. Why did his mouth do the nervous Peter thing and fuck up everything that he tried to say? Wade laughed again and spoke joyfully through the line,

“Okay, well I’ll be at your door in, like, 40 minutes so get your ass in gear, nerd.” He hung up and Peter was left gaping at the phone. He shook his head and got ready, putting on one of his nicer pairs of jeans and a nice cardigan over one of his rattier plaid shirts. Pulling on his old converse and glasses, he walked out to find Gwen with coffee in hand. He grabbed it and narrowed his eyes at her.

“I don’t trust foxes; they’re tricksters.” Gwen huffed out a laugh and pointed at the door.

“Not this time. I am simply aiding the disabled.” Peter snorted.

“How sweet of you, but for once, I am not disabled.” Gwen rolled her eyes and left, leaving Peter to sit at the island and drink his coffee. He started to question why Wade wanted to go have lunch. Was this a friend thing or not? Peter never really had friends long enough to find out what they do together so this could possibly be a friend thing or it could be the other thing. But, he really didn’t want to think about that right now. Peter rested his head on his arms and dozed off and didn’t wake until he heard laughter and the tale tell sound of camera noises. He jumped in alarm and turned to glare at Wade and Gwen, who were currently laughing at the fact that Peter had fallen asleep on the counter. Peter grumbled, stepped on Gwen’s foot on purpose, and grabbed Wades arm with more force than necessary to lead him out of their apartment. Gwen’s laughter could be heard through the door, though it was covered by Wade’s that were still happening right next to him. Whether out of frustration or lack of sleep Peter grumbled out,

“It’s rude to make fun of nocturnes who try to be diurnals all the time.” Wade stopped giggling and looked at Peter with a puzzled look until Peter realized he wanted him to explain. Peter laughed nervously and broached the manner in a joking manner, though his face was lacking mirth. “You know like animals that stay up all night? Because I stay up all the time to work, but I still go to work and school in the morning? Haha yeah I don’t sleep much… that’s why I was asleep…” Peter trailed off taking time to notice Wade’s outfit. It was more or less the same as the last time he had saw him, but with a lot less weapons as far as Peter could tell. When he looked up to Wade’s masked face he found a look of concern. Peter cocked his head. Concern? That wasn’t right. Wade spoke with the same tone as his face showed.

“When was the last time you slept; before just now?” Peter looked up trying to think about the last time he had had a good mornings sleep. He frowned as he realized it was worse than he thought.

“Well I usually get a good one to two hours every day but last time I had a good rest was about five days ago? I don’t really keep track of that stuff. It’s hard you know, to sleep, because my brain is wired to be up at night and asleep during the day so working all day and then not sleeping at night really messes with me I guess.” Wade’s eyes widened and he pointed at Peter.

“You weren’t joking about that nocturnal junk! You actually believe that? That’s got to be horrible on your body! Everybody needs sleep to function! Even the vamps!” Peter tried hard not to hiss at that comment, but it ended up coming out as a nasty snarl.

“I-They are not vampires. That is derogatory. Just because they drink blood does not make them vampires.” Wade blinked and then broke into a wide smile behind his mask.

“It basically does. That’s what vamps do.” Peter closed his eyes willing his extra fangs to stop trying to elongate.

“That is, in fact, literally the only similarity that they share. And it’s not even like they can’t eat human food, jeez. The diurnal ones are out in the day all the time!” Wade stopped outside one of the local diners and held the door open for Peter as he walked in.

“Wait your saying the vamps have weird day and night things too?” Peter sighed as they sat down. He blinked and flinched as the sunlight hit his glasses and shone painfully in his eyes.

“Yes, because the creatures are branched into species and some species are diurnal and some are nocturnal. It’s not that complicated.” Wade shook his head and looked at the menu. The waitress, Mandy, a “friend” of Peters, stopped by and eyed Wade before turning to Peter.

“Always nice to see you out and about in the daylight, Peter. Number one or number two?” Peter scowled as she looked at Wade. This diner was one of the only ones in town that catered to both humans and, well, “vamps.” The one and two she was referring to was Wade and whether he was a meal or a friend in that order. Peter couldn’t help it, he hissed a little and turned to Mandy,

“He’s a number two. And I’ll have my regular as long as you actually put it together correctly this time.” Mandy nodded and turned to Wade who mumbled something about grilled cheese. Once she left Wade gave a questioning glance to a now visibly irritated Peter.

“Dude did you just hiss? I didn’t even know people could actually do that! That’s so cool, you have to teach me how to do that!” Peter sighed and smiled a little along with Wade. What’s the point if you don’t have a little fun now and then?

They ate and joked and learned more about each other. Wade learned that Peter is incredibly smart and only works for the Bugle because he likes to do photography on the side. He also learned that as the sun goes down Peter becomes more alive and his eyes start to shine like they did on that first night and it’s completely and weirdly mesmerizing. But, Wade also learned that Peter never smiled, well not really anyways. They were always small and strained, like he wants to smile larger, but he just can’t and that troubles Wade more than he thinks it should. Peter learns that for a mercenary, Wade is very tame. He only takes jobs that takes the life of someone who deserves it and that despite what everyone thinks he only likes the fighting part of the job and that’s why he doesn’t take stealth missions very often. Peter also learns Wade has friends in very high places. Like Tony Stark high. But he doesn’t comment on it because he’s too busy sneaking secret glances at the small bit of skin that was revealed. He can make out a few scars, but his jaw is strong and his teeth are perfect and Peter still can’t understand why he hides. They talk well into the night, Wade staying awake due to Peters flow of energy that seems to be never ending once the sun has gone down. In the end they go their separate ways, though neither of them ever say goodbye. Wade gets home and falls asleep smiling, thinking about Peter and when Peter gets home and lays on the couch and tells Gwen everything like he always does and Gwen smiles because, as a fox, she is always one step ahead of everyone else.

-

“Sam says that there’s been sightings of a bunch of hunters on the outskirts. If he’s right, we’ve gotta start warning everybody to stay indoors and stay away. We don’t know what they’re after.” Peter and Gwen are sitting on the couch looking though their phones trying to get word on the situation. Neither was worried, as this sort of thing had happened before with little to no incident, but it never hurt to be aware. Peter more so because of his rare animalistic. Both, however, looked up when a cry for help rang from outside the building. They ran to pull the curtains back on the window, but what they find is a sore sight for eyes, Peter almost ripping the door off in a rush to get down to the scene. At the bottom of the of their building complex lies Wade in a puddle of what can only be assumed as his own blood. His clothes are in tatters with deep claw marks digging deep into the flesh beneath. It’s a gruesome sight and all that Peter can think about is the amount of that blood that he’s memorized the smell of, lying outside of Wade’s body. Horrified and angry, Peter scans the shadows for the ones responsible, his eyes alight with his soul. Three creatures mask themselves in the darkness of the early morning, but not well enough for Peter’s trained eyes to miss. Peter takes a defensive stance above Wade, his eyes never leaving the three shadows. He kneels down and lifts the bottom half of Wade’s mask up so he can breathe better, but he’s losing consciousness. He manages to mumble,

“Peter no, they’ll kill you!” But Peter isn’t listening anymore. He stands over Wade and glints his eyes at the three still lying hidden. Peter lets out a hiss of offensive nature, challenging them. They _hurt_ Wade; and now they were going to pay. They slowly walk out, their stance more of an animal on the prowl, and Peter rises. _Jaguars._ Tough, but they didn’t know what kind of spider they decided to play with. They circled around Peter and Wade, neither of the parties making the first move. Peter eyed them wearily and waited for the right moment to strike. His eye caught the weakest of the three moving slightly slower than the rest. A younger girl with stormy gray eyes and a mess of golden blond hair. She was limping, her leg bleeding pretty bad from a knife wound that no doubt came from Wade. Why Wade didn’t just shoot them, Peter didn’t know.

Normally, Peter would feel terrible fighting others like him, but right now he felt nothing but anger and vengeance. He lunged at the young girl, the other two surprised at his offensive tactics, and rammed her straight to the ground. He and the girl rolled until she was on top of him, fangs barred in defense. she leaned in, aiming to rip and tear with her teeth, but Peter snapped and with a burst of strength, he flipped them. As she lay struggling beneath him, Peter hissed and the venom from his fangs dripped down and burned as it touched her flesh. She screeched and let go, trembling. She stood and ran, the other two jaguars not paying her any heed, their eyes locked on Peter. They both charged with superhuman speed and would have hit Peter full frontal had he not slid between the two women and scaled the wall behind them, clinging to the corner fully concealed within the shadows. They looked around frantically and Peter took the time to notice that Wade was now gone from the pool of blood but the trail lead to his apartment. Sensing that this battle wasn’t going to be over until someone was left bloody and beaten, Peter made a choice. One that he was sure to regret later, but right now it was for the good of the people; For Wade. He jumped. He landed on top of one of the woman and toppled her to the ground, rolling off, then springing back on and biting her neck before being thrown off and into a wall by the other woman. Peter crumped upon impact, but recovered soon enough to watch as the jaguar he bit began to spasm until she lay still. Her body began to turn a sickly color of yellow and became paper thin and when the other woman touched her, ever so gently, she crumbled to into dust. The last jaguar stood, her black hair whipping in the wind, releasing a growl that shook Peter to his bones. Her bright, steel blue eyes met Peters and he hissed out one thing,

“ _Mine.”_ Peter’s voice cut through the air, sliding over like ice, dripping with venom (literally.) The woman shook with rage and only paused for a moment before she charged, using her unnatural speed to be upon Peter in a matter of seconds. She tackled him to the ground in a hast of violence and began to sharpen her nails, clawing at Peter’s chest and paring through his skin. He reared with unexpected force and she sailed back. Peter scuttled into the shadows unseen, licking his wounds. The woman stood quickly and began to sniff the air and locked onto Peter’s position. When she was in range he dropped on her, but unlike the others she had learned from their mistakes and anticipated his attack.  She grabbed him by his shoulders and threw him over her, slamming him into the ground harshly. She straddled his waist and wrapped her hands around his neck, her claws digging into the sensitive skin there. Peter hissed and wrapped his arm around hers and found the junction of her elbows, indenting his thumbs and making her screech in pain. In her moment of distraction, Peter folded his legs in and coiled until he was able to kick her straight into the chest, sending her flying. He jumped up and sprinted at her, blood running down his neck and coating him. he tackled her rising form and latched on digging fangs deep into her shoulder. She screamed in pain, but Peter didn’t let go until she crumpled to the ground and fell to nothing in his arms.

He spat the taste of her out of his mouth and turned to balcony where Gwen stood watching with worried eyes. Blood covered her hands and clothes, but it was nothing compared to the amount laden on Peter. He ran up the stairs to the apartment and rushed to the couch where Wade lay. Most of his clothes had been removed, a new pair of pants covering his lower half. Stitches riddled his torso where deep claw marks had embedded themselves. But Peter only spared it half a glance, his eyes stuck on his face. The mask had been completely removed and what remained was startling. Long scars reached across his whole face in a zig-zagging sort of tare resembling that of an animal attack of a large mammal. They clearly had healed, meaning the event was from a long time ago. His head was shaved, the scars running up onto the top of his scalp and Peter understood why he wore the mask now. Not because he was hideous, fact he was far from it, but because he was self-conscious; something Peter knew well. It was the reason he never really smiled.

Peter didn’t know how long he had been staring, but at some point Gwen had gotten him a chair and got him a towel to clean up, which he didn’t use for himself, instead cleaning the dried blood off of Wade. Peter didn’t know where Gwen went, but he couldn’t really focus on her at the moment. His mind was whirling about the fact that he could have lost Wade. He still wasn’t sure why he cared so much, but now that he knew him a little more the feeling didn’t feel so weird anymore. Peter had learned long ago not to question his instincts to hard because most of the time it saved his life. Wade was becoming that friend that Peter had never really had, so what was the harm in trying to keep him safe? He undoubtedly was going to leave once he found out what Peter was, if he didn’t kill him that is, so trying to make the most of it while they could was the only thing that he could do. 

Peter didn’t notice when Wade woke up because he didn’t say anything. He watched as Peter carefully cleaned the stinging cuts that covered his body. He was humming under his breath and looked so at peace Wade didn’t know what to say even if he hadn’t been entranced by the way Peter’s lips curled into the smallest bit of a real smile. But, he got distracted by the blood that was slowly drying on Peter’s neck and without giving it much thought he reached up and touched it lightly. Peter startled and locked eyes with Wade, making him realize he wasn’t wearing his mask. He covered his face and shuddered before Peter reached and pulled his hands away. Wade watched as Peter smiled softly at him; full of awe.

“Your eyes are beautiful.” Wade’s crystal blue eyes widened as Peter laughed, leaning over and hugging Wade’s torso lightly from where he sat. he looked up at him with a certain sadness and spoke quietly. “I thought I had lost you for a second there. I-those poor women-“ He stopped short and drew himself further into Wades chest. Wade didn’t know what to do, but as Peters shoulders began to shake he realized that he was crying. Wrapping his arms around Peter’s small body they stayed like that. Wade wanted to ask so many questions. Why was Peter crying? Way had he not run away in fear from his face? He pulled Peter’s face up and wiped the tears away.

“What happened to those women?” Wade asked very slowly, but Peter’s face cringed and more tears fell. Wade was about to ask again when he noticed something about Peters canines. They were sharper, but it almost looked like there was another set hidden behind. He reached out to touch, but Peter reeled back, scrambling onto the floor, his eyes full of fear.

“Don’t-“ it was strangled, but Peter continued, “Please. I could never live with myself if I-“ he paused again and shook himself out of whatever stupor he had gotten himself into. “I-I killed those women. Only one escaped. I-“  Peter curled in on himself and cried harder. Wade didn’t know what to do. On one hand he wanted to comfort Peter, but he also wanted to ask about his teeth. The concern and curiosity over those vampires and how Peter had managed to kill them won over.

“Is that why you’re so hurt? Peter they could have killed you! I don’t even know how you are alive right now! They nearly shredded me to jerky! How…?” Peter didn’t stop crying, but he stood and looked at Wade with a look so fierce that he almost felt the same chill he had felt when those creatures cornered him.

“They almost _killed_ you Wade! I wasn’t going to sit around and let you bleed out for nothing! I gave them a warning to stay away from you and they disobeyed it! I made fine of my word, even if it meant that they weren’t going to make it out of there alive. It was you or them.” Angry tears streamed down Peter’s face, his eyes a dark festering brown. Peter could feel the venom leaking out and he quickly turned and swallowed, trying to calm himself down. Why was he getting so worked up about this? Probably because he had almost lost Wade and he wasn’t going to let him find out about him. He wasn’t going to let him say goodbye yet. He wasn’t ready. They hadn’t known each other for too long at all, and yet, it was like they had known each other forever.

Peter turned when Gwen came into the room with another towel pulling Peter to sit on the floor while she wiped the blood off of him and took his shirt off. Wade stared at his bare chest and looked in amazement. There were scars all over. They were small yes, but some of them were like his, curling around his torso and onto his back. Dark bruises shown where he had taken a more brutal hit, but there was lean muscle hidden beneath, clearly evident that Peter knew how to fend for himself. Wade had never wanted to be close to people. He was someone who lived alone and survived alone, but something had clicked after he met Peter. He suddenly wanted to always be near him, to make sure that he was safe. He was angry that he had failed, bringing the danger to Peter instead of keeping it away.  Gwen pulled a shirt over Peter’s head and gave him a blanket to wrap up in before turning to Wade. The emotion on her face was indecipherable, but she came over and sat in the chair next to the couch. She spoke gently while keeping an eye on Peter, who had stopped crying, but was beginning to slouch in exhaustion.

“I’m going to tell you a lot of things that may or may not make sense, but I can’t see a better time to say them. The women who attacked you were what you like to call vampires, though they weren’t really vamps at all. See those were jaguars. They have increased agility and strength with the added bonus of claws that do a lot of damage.” Wade nodded.

“Yeah, Peter mentioned something about different species.” Gwen smiled and nodded.

“Yes, there are lots of types with different power sets. Now, what I say next might seem out of context and not really important, but to me it really is and I have a feeling you are going to need to know it. Through the different species they have mates, obviously, but there’s a thing called being truly mated. It’s like a soul mate, you know? Now Peter likes to think that you have to be the same species for it to be real, but I’m not so sure. But another theory came up the other day that had to deal with a true mate between different _creatures._ Not just vamps with vamps, but vamps with humans and things. Now I don’t know much about this, because it seems like a bad idea all over the board, but it could also be the best thing. They wouldn’t have to hide anymore, we could live among them as equals, you know? That might have been why those jags attacked you. Could have been for food, could have been for mating. We will never know unless we catch the escapee. But then again, would you really want to know?” Gwen finished and looked at Wade, who looked mostly confused on why she would be telling him any of that. A laugh sounded from the floor. Peter sat with a scowl on his face.

“Don’t fill his head with nonsense that doesn’t even concern him, Gwen.” Gwen just smiled at him.

“I think it concerns both of you very well.” Peters jaw dropped and he made a lung at Gwen’s mouth, who easily avoided it and skipped away laughing.

“Seriously, don’t listen to anything that comes out of her mouth she’s a fox. They’re tricksters; never trust them.” Something about the way that Peter said that made him feel like he meant more than what he was letting on by saying that. A lot of that whole conversation was lost to him though. He rubbed his eyes and mumbled,

“ ‘M gunna go to sleep now cuz I didn’t get half of that convo. Night Petey.” Wade caught the small smile that made its way to Peters mouth as he pulled his blanket over Wade.

“Goodnight Wade.” Peter turned, but before he could leave Wade spoke again,

“What do I smell like? You never answered that question.” Peter smiled and turned back to Wade and spoke in a tone so gentle and sweet you couldn’t imagine he wasn’t anything but pure. 

“Like spice and honey, gunpowder and leather. Absolutely perfect.” Peter’s eyes shown the way they always did once the sun went down. His smile had grown into the first _real_ smile that Wade had ever seen him make.  

-

Wade ended up staying for a couple days claiming that he recovered best on other people’s couches. Peter and Gwen learned how hard it is to keep the blood drinking thing a secret with a human living on the couch where they can clearly see the kitchen. The cooler that held the bags of blood donation sat in the freezer where they had to sneak and get when the other was entertaining Wade. By the end of the week Peter was almost ready to tell Wade everything just so he could eat in peace in the kitchen and not have to worry about blood stains in the bedroom. Wade ended up feeling much better and decided they needed to all take a walk to the park. Gwen and Peter shared a look when Wade mentioned he wanted to pick up some weapons by his place before they headed out. Though a week had past, they were all still on their toes.

The walk was pleasant, the rustle in the trees as the leaves fell onto the ground was a welcome sound. The city bustle never quite left but the chatter between them blocked it out as they picked a bench to sit on. The breeze had picked up and Wade marveled in the way that Peters hair curled in the wind. Peter kept glancing under Wade’s hood to see the sparkle in his clear blue eyes. As the sun reached mid-day they lit up with a sort of mirth that rivaled Peters at night time. Gwen laughed along with them accidentally getting them to fall into each other and make them all hold hands crossing streets. Peter glared at her and Wade laughed along. It was peaceful and Wade smiled at how much more Peter started to smile for real. He started to notice other things too though. Like the way Gwen’s canines were also slightly sharper and the way that Peter seemed to always be weary of others, jumping whole feet away. Or the fact that whatever was in the freezer, they didn’t want him snooping in because it was clearly very important. The more things he saw the harder it was to shake it off as just normal things. They were hiding something from him, but he couldn’t find that final piece to put the picture together.

They had all bought ice creams and were enjoying the autumn heat when they saw her. Hidden behind one of the trees on the outskirts of the park they didn’t notice her at first, but as she came closer their gazes hardened. Her blond hair was caked with dirt, but her eyes were as stormy as they were the first time they had saw her. Her face was speckled with horrid festering pockets and Wade watched as Peter cringed and looked away with regret on his face. She pointed at Peter and out came a dozen other men, armed with a random assortment of weapons. They wore all black and their heads all cleanly shaven military style. Wade’s hand twitched towards his guns, hidden to their eyes. Gwen spoke with absolute conviction as the men armed themselves.

“So is this what you Hunters do now? Alley yourself with the own creatures you are trying to hunt and gang up on one in broad daylight?” One of the men, the ringleader no doubt, laughed. He pointed a knife in her direction.

“Well now. We just know how to play our cards correctly. Plus, the cat doesn’t matter now that we have the spider.” He flung the knife at the girl and she crumpled to the ground, dead in a matter of seconds. Wade took a step back in horror, despite his job, but Peter and Gwen stood their ground. Peter was the one that spoke next.

“Then why don’t we stop the chit-chat and cut to the chase right? You’re here for me so leave the fox and the human out of this. I only act in self defiance, but if you so much as lay a finger on these two I will not hesitate to turn you to dust.” Gwen mumbled “literally” as the Hunters rolled their shoulders and smiled.

“Then let’s dance, spider.” The leader spoke again, his dark eyes gleaming with something very unsettling, before he charged at Peter. Peter ducked and swung around, hitting the man in the lower back, presumably at his kidneys. The others were running now taking stabs at all three of them. Not a single one laid a hand on Peter, who dodged flawlessly and managed to disarm and incapacitate a few. Wade was doing the same, except he was incapacitating them by shooting them in non-lethal places. He was going to honor what Peter had said, knowing death really hit him hard; the fighting was the fun part anyways. Gwen was in a league of her own, skipping in and out of the men, taking deep, fast and quick jabs at sensitive areas, before leaping away. The way that the two of them fought was, in a way, just like the names they had been called. Gwen and her fox like spirit jumped in between people and tricked them, laughing at the whole exchange. Peter gracefully and narrowly avoiding hits while delivering powerful blows. It made it easier for Wade to believe that he took out those jaguars earlier, but there was something still off about it all. Maybe it was the dangerous way that Peter’s eyes glinted, or the way that almost every move he made was both defensive and offensive, Wade didn’t know. Well he didn’t know until the leader gained back on Peter. Wade barely caught it, but while Peter was fighting the other men, jabbing and punching, the leader advanced. Wade screamed Peters name, but it wasn’t fast enough. The man drove a knife deep into Peter’s side causing him to hiss in pain and fall forwards. He spun and while still holding his side, tackled the man. Wade desperately fended off the other men while he watched in horror as Peter straddled the man holding his arms down and letting his wound bleed without pressure. Wade’s eyes widened as the glint in Peters golden-honey brown eyes turned dark. Peter spat in the man’s face before biting hard into his arm. The man screamed in pain as Peter let go, his extra fangs dripping with venom and watched as the man turned to dust and blow away in the breeze. Those who were still standing stopped and looked at Peter, who hadn’t moved. Wade glanced at Gwen who was standing looking saddened at the young man who was bleeding heavily onto the ground. Then Peter fell over. Gwen rushed to his side as the other Hunters all looked at one of the men, the next in command. He spoke with cold indifference.

“Leave the ones that have fallen. Let’s get back to base and tell them that the spider will die soon enough with the anti-venom running through him.” and with that the rest of the Hunters ran back into the shadows and out of sight. Wade ran to Peter’s side and lifted his head as Gwen put pressure on the wound. Peter smiled at Wade through lidded eyes and spoke softly.

“I didn’t want you to find out. I’m sorry Wade. Please forgive me.” Peter coughed and closed his eyes, his smile lasting and finally being wide enough to show that yes, there was extra teeth behind. And that they were indeed too sharp to be human. Tears rolled down the side of Peter’s face as Wade closed his hand around his.

“All that matters right now is getting you home alive. I’ll deal with your weird spider-vamp-ness later.” Wade shook as he and Gwen gently lifted his body, walking slowly back to the apartment. Peter didn’t speak anymore, in too much pain to function as the anti-venom spread throughout his body. They laid him down on the already bloodstained couch and Gwen rushed off for supplies. Wade set to work removing Peter’s shirt and cleaning the wound. It was deep, but as far as Wade could tell it hadn’t hit anything vital. Gwen returned with the first aid kit and a leather bound book. She sat on the ground as Wade took to fixing the damage, flipping through the book frantically. She paused at one page and read carefully, her eyes laced with worry. She let out a sigh of relief and ran to the kitchen and her room, returning with a concoction of things. Wade watched as she set to work mixing them into a fine paste before handing it to him.

“Put this in the wound while I finish the rest of the antidote.” She didn’t say anything more, going back to work, so Wade did what he was told, trusting that she knew what she was doing. Seconds after he applied the paste into the gash, Wade watched as the muscles knitted themselves back together leaving a smaller cut that he quickly stitched up. When he looked up, Gwen was moving towards Peter’s arm with a syringe in hand. She injected it before running to the kitchen and returning with the IV and a bag of blood. Wade stepped back and watched as she did just as she had done when he had brought Peter home weeks ago. This time, however, Wade didn’t move from the chair next to the couch, even when Gwen reassured him that he was going to be fine. He just sat and held Peter’s hand as the color slowly began to return to his lifeless face. Eventually Peter began to stir and his eyes opened gingerly, blinking before turning to Wade, who was looking at him with a face full of worry. Peter smiled and squeezed his hand.

“A little bit of a role reversal isn’t it?” he spoke just as soft as before, but his smile was full of joy. Wade just shook his head and smiled back at him.

“That isn’t funny Parker.” Wade frowned at him and spoke softer than before, “I thought I had lost you.” Peter closed his eyes, still smiling.

“Now you know how I felt, but with less guilt.” Neither said anything after that, preferring to sit in each others company in silence. But, Wade still had his questions. He still had to ask, he had to know. How? How could someone as nice as Peter be a vamp? Those things that hunted Wade relentlessly and caused the scars on his face. They made him so angry and yet, Peter made him so happy. He squeezed his hand again.

“So do you wanna explain some things to me or?” Peter looked away, ashamed. Taking a breath, he looked back up at Wade and pointed at the drawer next to the couch.

“Go and get the album that’s in that drawer and I’ll explain things, I guess.” Wade opened it and got the worn and old, leather-bound book. Wade handed it to Peter, who had managed to sit up with only minimal discomfort. He smiled warmly at it and flipped through the pages carefully landing on one with only a few pictures. Peter turned the book so that Wade could see. One picture held a small family of three in the porch light of the night; a mother, father and son who couldn’t have been more than six. Peter pointed at each one as he explained. “That’s my dad, Richard. He was a Brown Recluse. And that’s my mom. She was a Wolf Spider.”  The man was taller with big framed glasses over dark brown eyes and the woman stood with the child in hand, her curly nutmeg hair framing her face. Even in the old photo you could see in the toothy grin of six-year-old Peter, the double set of fangs. Wade realized then that Peter had been like this his whole life. He had been _born_ like this. He looked at Peter, who’s eyes hadn’t left the photo. “They died two weeks after this photo had been taken. A plane crash while on a mission for the C.I.A. You don’t know the type of someone unless you’re their true mate or they die. I didn’t even know the type of spiders my parents were until they were dead.” Peter still smiled, but there was a deep sadness that Wade realized lived with him everywhere he went. Peter pointed to another set of pictures, these showing an older man with glasses and a woman with spikey white hair. An older Peter stood with them, smile barely showing. “This is my aunt and uncle. Uncle Ben was a Great Horned Owl, he died a year after this picture; the hunters got to him mistaking him for my aunt.” Wade’s eyes widened.

“Mistaken? How do you mistake that kind of thing?” Peter looked at the photos with a brief flash of anger.

“By hearing that there was a spider in the house and not checking their facts before acting.” Peter paused, looking off somewhere else. “Hunters aren’t the only thing I hide from. There was a mass genocide of all spiders as they were deemed too dangerous for not only humans, but other creatures as well. Of everyone, but those with the same animalistic; spiders.” Wade realized that Peter hadn’t just been born like this, but had to live his whole life in fear, in hiding, so an event like today never had to happen. Peter closed the book and turned to Wade looking him dead in the eye. “You want a run down on everything? I’m a spider, what type I can’t tell you, but I have deadly venom that you so much as touch and that finger will look like that girls face until it falls off. If it gets into your bloodstream, then your body breaks apart until it turns to dust in under a minute. I can stick to almost all surfaces and have slightly higher strength ratio. I’m nocturnal, but you already kinda knew that. Oh, and I need to drink blood to survive. Gwen is a fox and even I don’t know about what her skill set is. There you go. Now you know everything.” Peter looked bitter by the end of it, already spiting Wade even though he hadn’t even stormed out yet. Mostly Peter was angry at himself for being so far from normal he couldn’t even kiss anyone without worrying that he was going to kill them. It wasn’t until Wade rested his hand on Peter’s face and met his eyes with something completely different; something Peter couldn’t name.

“At least you’ll don’t have to worry about hiding me from the blood in the freezer. But, seriously, it all makes sense now! I just could not for the life of me put it together! I was like what’s up with him and his teeth? And, why is he not the least bit worried there’s a mercenary in his house? And, why isn’t he saying something about the nasty ass scars on my face? I should probably care more about the fact that you’re a vamp, but for some reason It doesn’t bother me at all. Like, it just feels right.” Wade finished nodding his head as if to approve himself. Peter stared in shock. He had never had someone that found out stay long enough for Peter to prove he was mostly harmless. Wade smiled at him as he removed the IV from Peter’s arm, wrapping it up more gently than would have been thought of someone of his career. He patted Peter’s face and spoke jokingly, but it held a sort of serious undertone. “Now you get to bed and rest. I don’t care if it’s like morning time for you, you almost died so I’m going to have to insist on you putting your cute little butt in bed and staying there for the next 24 hours. Kapesh?” Peter nodded, confused and tired all of a sudden, grabbing Wade’s waiting arm to be led back to his room. The second his head hit the pillow he was out and didn’t even hear the quiet “goodnight” Wade said as he shut the door.

Wade returned to the living room, where Gwen had returned with more books and was reading them diligently. He sat on the couch and was surrounded with a scent that was distinctively Peter. Something inside him stirred, a need to suddenly be close to Peter again, to protect him. Wade stared at Gwen and thought back to what she had said to him when he was lying on this couch a week ago. She had said something about vamps and mating and soulmates, leaving Wade in a very confusing sort of hole. There was something about what she had said that sounded right. Gwen raised her head as he spoke up.

“What was that thing you were saying about human-to-vamp matey things?” Gwen smiled and came over with a stack of books.

“I was just looking more into that. Despite the topic just becoming relevant now, it seems it has been around for a long time. My books have been saying it is entirely possible, that no matter the species or creature, the two will balance out. I’ve been trying to find out more about Peter’s condition, because you know, most spider bites are painful but not many of them are strong enough to kill.” Wade’s eyes widened.

“You mean that whole genocide because they dangerous thing…?” Gwen nodded grimly.

“Yep. Not really necessary. It looks like most first generation spiders, like Peter’s parents, who come from a line of the same type, like all Wolf Spiders, have the exact same skill set. Makes sense, but it’s when they mix that it gets messed up. Peter came from two highly poisonous types, making him more dangerous than normal types.” Wade bobbed his head, starting to get the gist of things.

“He’s a freaky combo scary spider! But wait, does that mean he doesn’t have a real type then?” Gwen shook her head.

“Based on this book that I found in Peter’s attic, he has a type. His animalistic is a mix yes, but it looks like certain types mixing result in certain types themselves.” Wade was lost again, confusion on his face. Gwen rolled her eyes and continued, “A Wolf Spider and a Brown Recluse makes a Peter. A Black Widow and a Red Widow make a Brown Widow. It’s a big game of mix and match for different combos. I’m guessing it works the same way with all other animalistics too, the thing is the spot where it should tell us what Peter is, is blank. No one has had that paring before, with children anyways. But I’ve talked to Peter, he knows what he is, even if we don’t. Someone would have to mate with him to find out, but even then, only the mate would know because they physically can’t tell others.” Wade held his hand up.

“What do you mean _physically not allowed_? You just gotta open your mouth and spit it out.” Gwen shook her head.

“It’s not that simple. There’s something inside of us that makes it so that if we try and say no sound comes out, but it’s also one of those things you don’t want people to know. It’s like a secret that you keep for that special someone. You just know when you can say it. And that’s what I was getting at when I told you all about the mating junk before. I think Peter knows he is able to say what he is to you.” Wade pointed at himself, eyebrows raised almost painfully high. Gwen nodded enthusiastically. “Yep! But he’s too afraid to say anything. For one he probably doesn’t think it’s real, which is stupid and he needs to get with the program, but I also think that he figures that even if it is real it’s too much of a danger to you and isn’t going to act upon it anyways to keep you safe.” Wade shook his head, leaning back for dramatic effect.

“Danger? To me? That’s like saying water is a danger to humans! I’m a fucking mercenary! It’s in my job description to be dangerous! My middle name is dangerous! Actually its Winston, but you get my berries!” Wade crossed his arms and huffed. Gwen shook her head again, pointing at the book she was holding.

“No matter how dangerous you think you are; it doesn’t stop Peter’s venom killing you like it kills everything else.” Wade deflated. Of course he knew that, but it wasn’t fair. Wade was pretty sure he wanted to be with Peter forever. Nope. He just decided that forever wasn’t long enough; 5-ever is better. That thing that had shifted in his belly when he sat on this couch was stirring itself making Wade want to go to Peter’s room even more than before.

“Does your little book thingys say anything about what finding your mate feels like? Cuz I don’t have an animal- artistic or whatever so there’s really no way for me to know for-shizzles right now.” Gwen nodded again.

“Animalistic. And most things I’ve read said it’s like a sudden boost of protectiveness for one another. Some say if it’s really strong, like developed, you’ll get a sense of longing to be near the other. I think it works like how animals work in the wild you know, all protective of their mates and children?” Wade rung his hands together. That sure sounded like what he had felt when he met Peter on the train that day. It was the whole reason he offered to take him home before he had even asked. The reason Wade had even considered picking someone up on the subway of all places.

“But, okay so spiders do the dance with each other; cool. What stops them from poisoning each other? They all got different venom so, why are they not dropping like flies, if you pardon my pun?” Gwen laughed and rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

“I’ve been looking into that too. From what I know, when the spider gets aroused the second set of fangs retract, to insure that the partner is safe when preforming riskier activities, if you catch my drift. But Peter wouldn’t know that, his parents wouldn’t have told him that when he was that young, and his aunt doesn’t have a second set because she’s some sort of non-venomous spider.”

“So spiders do the do and they’re fine because then they’re like every other creature that’s making loveys. But if you know this, why haven’t you told Peter? That seems to me like vital information that he kinda needs to know about himself. I mean if I had a non-lethal dick that I thought was lethal, I’d wanna know, though between you and me my dick is pretty lethal in a different way.” Wade winked at Gwen and she shuddered before continuing.

“I haven’t told him because I like to hold all of the playing cards, and he has never asked. He’s never asked about anything related to mating! Not about rituals or proper etiquette or anything!” Gwen huffed, but Wade was too busy replaying what she just said again. He decided to take Peter’s advice and never trust her.

“Rituals? Y’all have fucking rituals for that shit? What is this? An alpha/beta slash fic? If it is I don’t want to be a part of this story anymore.” Wade shuddered and held out a hitchhiker’s thumb. Gwen continued, ignoring the last bit.

“Yes rituals. It’s not like it’s something crazy. There’s different ways to close the seal with your true mate, or any mate for that matter. Most people just do the exchange of blood because it’s the easiest, though it’s not the most pleasant.” Wade narrowed his eyes at her.

“Blood exchange? This is starting to feel like I’m joining a cult or something.” Gwen laughed and shoved a newer book at him with a little wine glass on the cover.

“Read this if you want a step by step, but it’s not as bad as you think. Well, maybe for you because you’re human, but It’s not unbearable. You just have to drink a little of the others blood at the same time.” She shrugged. “I mean you can read the other ways too; they’re all in there. But they get riskier and riskier so unless you want to go to 6th base, I wouldn’t attempt them.” Wade stared questionably at the book.

“You really think this stuff would work between a human and a vamp?” Gwen shrugged again.

“What’s the harm in trying? If it doesn’t work, then you just end up drinking a little spider blood and we get to deal with a smug Peter.” Wade narrowed his eyes are her again.

“And if it does me n’ Peter have to deal with an “I told you so” from you. So it’s a win-win both ways. Fabulous.” Wade closed his eyes and laid back on the couch.

“At least you would be truly mated though, something Peter never thought he would have. He had actually given up on it. I’m glad you came around, even if it doesn’t work. You’ve made him smile like the way he used to, back when his parents were still around. So, thank you.” When Wade opened his eyes again she was gone, along with all the books; all but the one still clutched in his hand. Could it really work? Did he want it too? Wade wasn’t one for long-term commitments, was he really willing to give away that kind of freedom all for Peter. But, the more Wade looked at the little book in his hand, the more he realized that, yeah, yeah he did. Even if it didn’t work he wasn’t going to leave Peter in the dust like some one-night stand. He was going to stick around as long as Peter would have him. For better or worse and all that crap. With determination on his mind and a smile on his face, Wade fell asleep on the couch, still surrounded by the smell of Peter, who smelled like coffee and old books mixed with rubbing alcohol.

-

Peter stayed true to Wade’s word, even if he didn’t know it, and slept until 9:30 pm the next day. He woke up very hungry and confused, blinking in the darkness of his room. He walked out into the living room, rubbing his eyes and blinking at the sight in front of him. Wade was sitting on the couch; reading. What it was Peter couldn’t see, but he walked over and plopped on the other side of him. Wade startled and shut the book with a snap. When he saw Peter, however, he jumped on him and nuzzled his neck, while locking him in a death grip hug.

“Baby boy! I thought you were never gunna wake up! Wait, is that too soon? Never mind doesn’t matter. I missed you! You can only talk to Gwen so much before her smarty talk gets boring, no matter how totally important it is! She left to go get some donations for you guys. Said she was going to get your favorite. But I don’t really care, I’ve just been so lonely without your company!” Peter would have normally pushed the other off by now, but he was weirdly comfortable. Wade sobered up and let Peter go after Peter smacked his face lightly.

“Well I’m back in business. Whatcha reading there? Wasn’t sure you could actually read to be completely honest.” Wade stuck his tongue out at Peter before looking at the book guiltily. He rubbed the back of his neck, not making eye contact with Peter.

“It was a book about y’all’s mating rituals that Gwen gave me and told me to read…” Peter snatched the book away before Wade could explain anything.

“You didn’t read too much of it did you? This book is…” he shuddered, “ _Disgusting._ ” He finished looking at the book like it grew legs. Wade tried to hold back his laughter, but it didn’t work. He laughed so hard there was tears in his eyes.

“Petey, I read every fucking word.” Wade said, breathless and wiping his eyes. “It was actually very interesting, from a sex standpoint anyways. Lots of good ideas in there I kinda want to try now!” Peter looked horrified and Wade started laughing all over again. “I’M KIDDING! Good lord the look on your face! I’m crying!” Peter flushed and looked away, grumbling to himself.

“How did you manage to become such a dick while I slept? Did I pull a sleeping beauty and stay down for 100 years or something?” Wade put his arm around Peter’s shoulder, rocking him back and forth.

“I’ve always been a dick with a big dick, but that’s beside the point!” he turned Peter and cradled his head in his hands. Wade’s shoulders dropped and he sighed. He looked at Peter, a vale of confidence trying to hide how worried he looked. “Listen Peter, I’ve been thinking about a lot of things, and I’m not too good with my words, but I gotta know. This thing between us, it goes both ways right? The weird protectiveness and loneliness?” Peter curled away from Wade, fear in his eyes. “Peter, what I’m trying to say is, I think Gwen might be right about this whole true mates thing. We talked and I really want to try because I really think we are; you know? I know this sounds kind of sudden but I think we both have known since we met that day on the subway. Please, Peter, I gotta know.” Their faces were almost touching and Peter realized what Wade was about to do. Peter had stood, backing away, shaking his head at Wade’s words. Pure terror covered his features as he looked in the pleading eyes of Wade. So many thoughts were going through his head, he couldn’t think. He had to get out. Away from what Wade was offering to him. It was something he couldn’t have. Tears threatened to fall as Peter’s back hit the open window. The first tear fell as he spoke,

“I’m sorry Wade, I-I just I can’t. I-“ more tears fell as he shuttered and gripped the window, “ _Goodbye, Wade._ ” He spoke softly before turning and crawling out the window and a speed so fast, you’d miss it if you blinked.

“Peter, wait!” Wade’s outstretched hand did little to stop him. “Fuck!” He punched the back of the couch in frustration. With renewed energy, Wade stood. He pulled on the mask he hadn’t worn in weeks and breathed behind its familiarity. Without even a word, he pulled open the door and ran into the darkness of the streets of New York to find his lost spider.

-

Peter didn’t know what he was doing. He was starving and shivering in his pajamas, hiding underneath the pier of one of the many boat stops. He wasn’t sure how he had gotten here, he had just panicked and went to the first place he could think of that people wouldn’t look for other people. He had just climbed under and was now currently hanging upside down above the freezing sea water. His head was spinning as he tried to sort out the mess of what had just happened. He had wanted to say yes so badly, to shout his animalistic type, but he had stopped himself. Wade didn’t know what he was asking for. If they tried any of the rituals, he would die. Peter wasn’t meant to have a mate, true or not. Peter curled in on himself at the thought of Wade crumbling to dust in his arms. he could simply love him from afar.

Peter’s head shot up so fast it hit the ceiling of the pier. Where had that thought come from? Did he really? No, that was almost a worse fate than accidentally killing Wade. To love someone back and yet deny them everything. And yet, when Peter thought back to it he realized that was what had been happening since the beginning. Ever since he fell into Wade on the bus, surrounded by the tantalizing smell of his blood, Peter had fallen. The spider inside of him hissed and struggled, urging Peter to go and seek out Wade, to accept his offer, but at what cost?  His instincts buzzed, but not of caution, of excitement. He had received an offer for something he never thought was possible. Then came the question of if it even _was_ possible. Wade seemed to know more than he was letting on, but he had read the book, he knew what was going to happen if they tried anything. Peter had a flash of anger. Why would he do something like that to Peter? Make him watch him die in his arms. But the anger was gone as quick as it had come. What if Wade really _did_ know something more than he was saying. He had talked to Gwen for who knows how long, and she knew more about that stuff than Peter could ever hope to know. Maybe…

Peter’s feet were moving before he knew it, to where he didn’t know. He’s head was foggy and he felt like he was wading through the bogs of the Never Ending Story. He still stuck to the shadows, invisible to the rest of the world, and before he knew it he was back in a familiar neighborhood. But, he didn’t end up at his apartment; he ended up at Wade’s. _stupid good for nothing instincts._ He thought to himself, but despite everything that he had been thinking about he knocked on the door. There was no answer, not even and shout to notify that someone was home. Gingerly Peter tried the doorknob and found it unlocked. Pushing open the door Peter looked into the dark apartment. It was surprisingly bare. Empty pizza boxes were stacked next to the door and the single couch looked like it was about to break from over use. The TV was sitting on the ground and takeout boxes sat in a small trashcan next to it. The kitchen was in better shape, yet only the top of the stove and microwave looked like they had ever been used. The bedroom door was shut and Peter wasn’t going to go snooping where he definitely already didn’t belong. Yet, Peter felt at home here. Maybe it was because it smelled like Wade, almost overwhelmingly so. Against his better judgement Peter shut the front door and walked further in, his hand hovering over the doorknob to the bedroom. He hissed at himself and opened the door. Clothes littered the floor, some bloodstained, some not. The bed was huge, barely leaving room for anything else. Peter didn’t spend much time looking around, his eyes focused on the bed. His soul lurched, the spider clawing at Peter’s insides, reaching for the bed. Peter shut his eyes and clenched his fists. Tears spilled over, dripping onto the end of the bed. Peter didn’t know how long he simply just stood in front of the bed crying, but at some point the spider won and he climbed under the sheets. The night slowly became the day and Peter fell asleep surrounded in warmth and the calming sent of Wade.

-

Wade was on his last legs. He was so angry that he caused Peter to break down and run. It was all his fault. He had pushed too hard too soon. Gwen was probably wondering where they were, but he couldn’t worry about her right now. Peter was _missing._ He had searched all over with no luck. He searched all of Peter’s favorite spots, even the places he didn’t like; all in hopes of catching him. The night had dragged on into the early hours when Wade gave up looking. He trudged back to their apartment and opened the door. Part of him hoped that Peter had come back in his absence, but only Gwen sat on the couch, texting like a madwoman. She looked up at Wade and he saw as her eyes fell.

“Peter isn’t with you?” Wade shook his head, still standing in the door way, seemingly unable to move.

“He left because of me. I’ve been out looking for him this whole time.” Gwen wanted to ask why, but the seriousness on his face was enough. She could tell that Wade was beating himself up over this. Whatever had happened had broken him.

“Listen. Go home. Sleep. I’ll call you if he comes back. There’s no point in you staying here and perhaps scaring him off again.” Wade’s gaze darkened, but he said no more. He nodded at Gwen and turned around shutting the door behind him. As he walked creatures lurked in the shadows, but none dared come any closer. If Wade listened hard enough he could hear fragments of their conversations.

“…Spider…”

“… his mate….”

“…would kill us…”

Wade paid them no mind, walking faster towards his apartment. He reached the door, already knowing it was unlocked, and walked inside. He ripped his mask off in frustration and threw it against the wall. It landed on the TV, sadly looking out from upon the floor. He kicked off his boots and shrugged out of his jacket. After the anger had left, all Wade felt was an overwhelming sense of regret. _The roles really have been reversed now._ Wade’s thoughts turned bitter. Sighing he turned to his bedroom door, his hand ready to turn a knob that had already been opened. Silently pulling a gun out, Wade nudged the door open more with his foot, gun at the ready to shoot whatever had crawled into his humble abode. There was a suspicious lump in the center of his bed and Wade prayed to whatever was listening that it wasn’t a bomb. He sniffed the air cautiously. Didn’t smell like a bomb. Slowly Wade made his way around the bed until he was close enough to lift the cover off. He held his breath, aimed, and grabbed the blanket. If the sudden cold didn’t wake him, the gun falling to the floor did. Peter sat up quickly scooting back until he was up on the wall looking down at a very similarly shocked Wade.

“Peter? What the hell are you doing in my bed? I looked everywhere for you!” there was no quips this time; no jokes. Wade was relieved and guilty all over again. Peter slowly came down off the wall, sitting cross-legged in the center again. His eyes didn’t shine and there was no smile on his face. Wade couldn’t decipher the look that he was receiving, but he wasn’t sure he wanted too. He hadn’t planned on getting his heart stomped on tonight. Peter spoke quiet, like he did when they had first met, and Wade saw something in his eyes that he didn’t expect; guilt.

“I was hiding under a pier by the boat docks and my head was all messed up and I didn’t know what to do so I just followed where my soul, where the spider wanted me to go. At first I thought it was back to my apartment, but then I just kept going until I was at yours. I didn’t mean to go into your room, I really didn’t plan on it, but then I did. And then I stood there, staring at your bed and crying and I guess at some point I just got in and fell asleep. I-I think I figured things out, but I don’t know how to say them.” Peter looked down at his lap where his hands had been wringing themselves of their own merit. The bed dipped and suddenly Wade’s warm calloused hands were holding his. Peter looked up and found Wade gazing at him, in the same way that he had after Peter had told him everything about who he was. Except this time Peter knew what that gaze meant. He knew because he could tell he was looking back at Wade with the same expression.

“You don’t have to say them. I think I understand well enough.” He paused drawing closer to Peter until they were eye to eye. “I love you too.” Peter breathed in sharply before letting out a huff of happiness. The smile spread across his face, and across Wade’s as well. Wade let go of Peter’s hands, placing one on his hip instead, causing Peter to fall backwards and wrap his arms around Wade’s neck instinctively. Their faces were close enough that their breaths mingled together. Peter was about to speak, when Wade cut him off. “Don’t be scared. The only way that you won’t hurt me, is if you let go of your fears.” Their foreheads met and Peter stared deep into those light blue eyes that shone with all the love that Peter knew he felt for him. So he let go.

“I love you.” He breathed out, Wade’s smile shining in the dim light of the room. Their lips met and Peter melted into it. It was like two halves of one whole. He might not have any experience to know what a good kiss was, but somehow he knew that there wasn’t anything better than this. Wade had managed to get Peter to part his lips and dove in.  Peter had no time to worry about Wade nicking his tongue on his teeth; he was too busy drowning. He didn’t know how long it went on like that, but when they broke for air, Wade didn’t stop there. He trailed kisses down the side of Peter’s neck, making him gasp in surprise. Wade hummed against the sensitive skin and Peter shivered. He kept going until he hovered over the junction of Peter’s shoulder. Wade prayed that he had played his cards right and bit down hard. Hard enough to draw blood. Peter hissed and instinctively jumped, biting down on the side of Wade’s neck. That’s when all hell broke loose. The second the sweet, hot blood hit his mouth, Peter lost his shit. It was _fucking delicious._ He could feel Wade lapping at his shoulder and realized too late what Wade had done. But, right now he was way too focused on trying to stop drinking up Wade. If it had smelled good on the outside, it didn’t compare to how it tasted from the inside. He hadn’t eaten in over two days and he’d found a fucking gold mine. Wade’s voice broke the vale.

“Please don’t go all Edward on me, man.” Peter couldn’t help it. He let go and burst out laughing. Wade was smiling at him wiping the excess off of Peter’s chin. Peter’s eyes sparkled and he proudly let his animalistic shine through. Wade gasped and leaned closer. Then he said the words Peter never thought he would ever hear out loud.

“Wandering Spider. A fucking Brazilian Wandering Spider. That’s what you are! I can see it in your eyes! Wow that’s fucking weird it’s, like, I look in ‘em and there it is! It’s, like, laser beamed to my brain and I just _know._ ” If Wade was done marveling in the fact that he just blew Peter’s mind, then Peter was ready to start realizing that Wade was his true mate and that Wade was alive. Peter _bit_ him and he was alive.

“Holy fuck.” He breathed out before he smiled huge, a recreation of the smile he gave when he was still six years old standing with his parents on that porch. Wade smiled back at him and grabbed his cheeks.

“Alright as much as I would love to kiss you again, your teefies are back, so I say we celebrate with a nice bottle of champagne that I had imported straight from France forever ago and party like true mates do!” Peter’s eyebrows bunched together and he put his hand on Wade’s chest.

“Back? Wade what-“ Wade put his finger on Peter’s mouth shushing him.

“Gwen told me that spidey’s extra fangs go away when they get all hot and bothered so they can have the fun times without hurting each other. We figured you didn’t know.” Peter stared up at him in shock.

“ _And you didn’t think to share this information?!”_ Peter hissed out. Wade held his arms out in surrender, waving them around frantically.

“Gwen is the one you should be mad at! She just told me when I asked about it! Said it was so she has all the cards or something and I thought ‘hey I could hold all the cards for once too!’ but I also didn’t tell you cuz otherwise you’d be thinking about it the whole time and they wouldn’t go away. And I needed my spidey kisses!” Peter blinked and then smiled at Wade. Clearly he knew what he was doing. He rolled his eyes.

“Damn foxes. Never trust them.” They both laughed before Wade got under the blanket and grabbed at Peter.

“Snuggle time! I’m tired as fuck so never mind the champagne and come snuggle with me cuz if I’m tired that means you are too, so, snuggle time!” Peter sighed, but turned into Wade’s open arms anyways and made himself comfy. They both fell asleep quickly basking in each others warmth.

-

Around eight pm, Peter started to stir. He was sandwiched between Wade’s chest, arms wrapped around Peter protectively. It was nice to wake up when his body wanted to, in someone's arms. Peter contemplated going back to sleep before he realized that Gwen was probably still looking for him. He grumbled and poked Wade in the face. His face scrunched up before he warily opened one eye.

“Wot?” Peter laughed and rubbed his eyes.

“Get up and grab that champagne; we gotta go see Gwen.” Wade took and arm off of Peter and laid it across his eyes.

“Shiiiiiiit. Forgot about her.”

“I know. That’s why we’re going now.”

Wade groaned but got up anyways. They bumbled around, Peter taking some of Wade’s way to large clothes so that he didn’t show up in pjs. Wade made coffee for them both and grabbed said champagne. They walked over hand and hand, grinning the whole time. Peter winked at Wade and knocked on the door. It opened it to revel a very disheveled Gwen. Wade lifted the champagne.

“I come baring gifts! Though the Peter is nonrefundable. I bought him with my hard earned money!” Peter smacked his arm before turning to Gwen and shrugging. Gwen pointed at Wade, a creepy smile stretching across her face.

“I told you so.” The smugness dripping off of the statement. Wade groaned again, turning to Peter.

“Fucking Foxes. Never trust them. They’re tricksters.”

Wade threw a thumb at Gwen, Peter nodding in agreement. They made eye contact though, and promptly lost it. Laughing they walked into the apartment closing the door behind them, never to say goodbye again.


End file.
